Big Boy No.4014 is the world's largest operating steam locomotive.
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The Union Pacific locomotive, known as Big Boy 4014, is the largest locomotive ever constructed. It just rolled in to Southern California after a massive restoration project. Thousands of people welcomed the largest steam locomotive ever constructed as it made its way back to Southern California Wednesday.
The Big Boys were built for power. They did the work of three smaller engines, pulling 120-car, 3800 ton freight trains at forty miles per hour in the mountains of Utah and Wyoming. With power, though, comes weight - larger cylinders, pistons, drive rods, boiler and firebox.
Twenty-five Big Boys were built exclusively for Union Pacific Railroad, the first of which was delivered in 1941. Of the eight remaining Big Boys in existence, No.4014 is the only one operating today. The Big Boys were about 133 feet long and weigh 1.2 million pounds.
Wyoming. The Big Boy locomotives weighed more than one million pounds and were 132 feet, 9 inches long. Stood on its end, one would be the equivalent of a 13-story building. Each one cost approximately $265,000 to build, or about $4.4 million in today's money.
All of the Big Boys were coal-burning, stoker-fired, designed to run 7,000 horsepower at 70 miles per hour. They have been lauded in the industry as the highest horsepower, heaviest, and longest steam locomotives ever built.
Alco PA LocomotivesArguably the most beautiful diesel locomotive ever built, sadly no Alco PAs were originally preserved. Today, one is under restoration.
A train engine requires about a hundred litres of fuel to get it started. So it wouldn't be economical if the engine is stopped and started frequently. This apart, if the engine is stopped, the moving parts' lubrication will also come to a halt.
Of the eighteen built, three survive and are on display in Minnesota: No. 225 at Proctor, No. 227 at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth and No. 229 at Two Harbors.
The heaviest train ever hauled by a single engine is believed to be one of 15,545 tonnes (34,270,820 lb.) made up of 250 freight cars stretching 2.5 km. (1.6 miles) by the Matt H. Shay (No.
Jim Wrinn was quoted in USA Today as estimating the cost to restore the 4014 at roughly $4 million. If I remember correctly, Stephen Lee was the engineer on the 844 trip.
Puffing Billy is the world's oldest surviving steam locomotive, constructed in 1813–1814 by colliery viewer William Hedley, enginewright Jonathan Forster and blacksmith Timothy Hackworth for Christopher Blackett, the owner of Wylam Colliery near Newcastle upon Tyne, in the United Kingdom.
Worldwide. The world's busiest passenger station, with a passenger throughput of 3.5 million passengers per day (1.27 billion per year), is Shinjuku Station in Tokyo.